Dream Theater members Mike Portnoy (drums)
and John Petrucci (Guitars) were joined by King Crimson’s
Tony Levin (Bass) and keyboard phenomenon Jordan Rudess to
participate in the “Liquid Tension Experiment”. This totally
unscientific experience took place in the Fall of 1997 in
Upstate New York during what Mike Portnoy called “one
craziest, most stressful, and , yet, simultaneously
beautiful, magical and most creative weeks of my life.”
Portnoy, Petrucci, Levin and Rudess got together to create
some of the most exciting and innovative progressive rock
heard in the last 25 years.

The players are all world-class with their pedigree being
undeniable. Dream Theater’s appeal has been proved by
their wildly enthusiastic fan base throughout the world.
The latest release from Dream Theater, “Falling Into
Infinity”, is being embraced by musically starved fans
worldwide. Portnoy and Petrucci wanted to take the
musicality of DT a step further without being restricted
by major label commercial concerns. Levin has always been
one to want to explore the outer limits of musical
creativity. Witness his stellar career playing with
everyone from John Lennon to Peter Gabriel to Bozzio Levin
Stevens. Tony wants to leave his musical mark on the
planet and he certainly takes another step forward with
Liquid Tension Experiment. Jordan Rudess has long been
known amongst musicians as one of the finest keyboard
players on the planet. He has performed with Jan Hammer,
The Dregs and his own recording project, Rudess
Morgenstein (with drum ace, Rod Morgenstein).

“Caution:* “Three Minute Warning” is not for the musically
faint-hearted, impatient, or critics of extreme
self-indulgence. If you fall into any of the above
categories, please hit the stop button on your CD player
after track # 8 .”

The above warning is issued in a tongue-in-cheek manner by
Portnoy on the back of LTE’s CD package. Following 8
action packed tracks is the inaccurately titled “Three
Minute Warning”. Twenty-eight and a half minutes of a
musical white knuckle ride takes the listener through so
many mood changes that it becomes hard to believe that
this jam was cut totally live in the studio. To reinforce
that reality is the fact that the 24 track master tape ran
out during the recording of this song but the ending was
captured by Portnoy’s always-recording DAT recorder.

The music on Liquid Tension Experiment is primarily
improvised and covers a lot of stylistic ground. But it
never stops rocking. There is a consistent heaviness
throughout the album which never allows it to leave the
realm of hard rock no matter where the musical landscape
goes. Mike Portnoy’s playing is stimulating but
relentless. John Petrucci wrings emotion out of his guitar
at every turn but never ceases to be melodic. Tony Levin
coaxes sounds from his instruments that do not seem
possible. Jordan Rudess amazing technique never
overshadows his ability to write cohesive and moving
songs.

Joing the fun was Dream Theater producer, Kevin Shirley,
who handled the album’s mix. Kevin’s recent successes with
Journey and Silverchair were both great in their
commercial and sonic achievement. Kevin felt that “Liquid
Tension Experiment” was an album in which he wanted to
participate because of its high artistic credibility. He
was able to bring a clarity and separation to the
instruments and yet still allow them to blend with a
powerful “group” sound.